


The King Sized Elephant

by wolfshavenokings



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: F/M, I swear they get around to it, Medium Burn, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, unfortunately there are no actual elephants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:53:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26389735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfshavenokings/pseuds/wolfshavenokings
Summary: After a mission gone wrong Nile and Booker get stuck at Joe and Nicky’s private hideout. They share a bed and maybe figure stuff out.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Comments: 70
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

The mission was supposed to be an easy one. Next time someone says that, Nile is going to kill them. Possibly several times. It’s always the ”easy” ones that end up being a fucking mess. Their contact had given them bad info –whether that was by accident or on purpose is a question for tomorrow– and instead of one or two unarmed guards and an outdated security system, they’d come across a small army.

  
  


They’d managed to barely salvage the situation, but in all of the chaos she and Booker had gotten separated from the others with no hope of making it to the safe house, needing to get off the streets  _ fast. _

Which is how they’ve ended up here, stuck at Joe's and Nicky's literal  _ love nest  _ for the night. With Booker of all the people. Figures. The universe must really hate her. Nile can't help but curse aloud.

"It's not that bad. After the time Andy had to crash here for a week, Joe and Nicky have taken care to keep the surfaces clean and change the sheets when they leave." As far as attempts at levity go, Booker's is a rather obvious one, but Nile lets out a chuckle all the same. If nothing else, she's happy to pretend that that's what bothers her about their current situation.

“Yeah, well, I’m ordering takeout all the same. There’s no way I’m eating anything prepared in  _ there,” _ she replies, gesturing to the little kitchen nook, “I think all of us have walked in on them in the middle of ‘cooking’ enough times not to pretend that they don’t go at it like bunnies there every time they are here.”

That gets an actual laugh out of Booker, and a mumbled ‘fair enough’. It really has no business being as endearing as it is.

It’s not that she minds being here with Booker. Far from it. From the start she’d felt a connection with the man, messy as the situation had been. And now, decades later, when he has worked so hard on learning to live with his past, when all of them have managed to find a way to forgiveness, Nile doesn’t think that there’s anyone that she trusts more. But neither are her feelings about anyone else nearly as conflicted.

As Booker busies himself with setting up a secure connection to let the others know that they are okay and organize a rendezvous for tomorrow, Nile looks up a local food delivery service online. In hardly any time, she has ordered and paid for an excessive amount of Indian food, with instructions to leave the food at the door. God, she loves places where you can get takeout with absolutely zero human contact, especially when they need to lay low.

With that out of the way, Nile grabs her pack and heads towards the bathroom. Booker barely acknowledges her when she says she’s taking a shower. Nile refuses to be disappointed. It’s not like she was hoping that he’d ask to join her.

_ But that _ is _ what you were hoping for, isn’t it. And that’s what the problem really is.  _ Figures that her traitorous inner voice sounds just like Andy.

Joe and Nicky have really gone all out with the bathroom. Nile briefly considers the hot tub that takes up nearly a third of the room, but decides that waiting for it to fill up would take a lot more time than she has patience for right now.  _ Really meant for two people anyway.  _ Nile really wants to punch something at that thought.

Instead she strips hastily, dropping her clothes on the floor to be dealt with later, and steps into the shower. Somehow, she has managed to forget just how covered in grime and muck she is. Thankfully the shower has way more than adequate water pressure and Nile remembers Joe bragging about never having to worry about running out of hot water. With that in mind, she firmly shuts out any thoughts of a certain Frenchman out of her mind and focuses on enjoying the moment.

  
  


It’s not until she hears the doorbell ring that Nile realizes just how long she has spent doing just that. As she hurries to finish up, the door opens and closes; Booker grabbing the food. By the time Nile’s out of the bathroom, hair brushed and wrapped in two buns to be dealt with later, he already has everything set up.

Looking at him from the doorway, Nile feels slightly guilty for taking so long in the shower. He is even more of a mess than she’d been. At least she hadn’t had to crawl in wet mud at any point.

“You really went all out with the order,” Booker notes when Nile steps into the room.

“Yeah, well. Couldn’t decide what I wanted.

You should go and clean up. Nicky’s going to kill you if you mess up their furniture.”

“I’ll buy them a new set” He’s smiling as he heads towards the bathroom.

Nile makes sure  _ not  _ to watch him go. And she does  _ not _ listen for the shower to start running. Least of all does she imagine Booker standing there, water running down his broad shoulders. Nope, not doing any of those things. Instead, she starts going through the kitchen cabinets looking for the wine Joe and Nicky are sure to keep at hand.

It’s not that much of distraction, but at least Booker finishes his shower a lot quicker, sparing her sanity from any more torture.

Or so she thinks, until she sees him, hair still wet and wearing a tank top showing off his shoulders and arms too well. The jeans are not much better, slung so low that they barely reach his hips. She even catches a glimpse of his abs, before he tucks his tank top lower. Really, is he trying to drive her mad?

  
  


As they eat, Booker briefs her about the rest of the team. Apparently, all the rest of them had managed to get out of the city in time and are hunkered down at the safe house, as planned.

Nile spaces out a little at that point, too busy cursing out the luck that’s brought them here. And beyond that, this damn tangled mess of emotions that’s been growing in her for years now. Of comfort and trust. Of want and frustration. Affection and contentment.  _ Love _ .

There are times when she’s sure Booker feels the same. His hand will brush against hers and linger just a little bit longer than necessary. The way their eyes will meet across a room, and he’ll smile at her, a private joke no one else gets to be in. How they work together so seamlessly during missions. And above all, the way he seems to gather every piece of her that she lets go; only to return it when she needs it the most. Somehow there’s always a mission somewhere near Chicago right around her brother’s birthday; new hair products always appear just as she’s about to run out. An endless list of kindnesses both large and small. She’s tried to keep track of them all, knowing all the while that it’s an impossible task.

Then she’ll see him with the rest of their family and all certainty escapes her. There are a lot of things different about Booker since he came back to them, but the one that’s easiest to spot is how much more open he is with all of them now. Nile may have only known them for a few days before the Exile, but even from that, and the stories she carefully pulled out during the intervening years, she could tell that there was always a part of him that he’d kept closed up, a distance he’d put between them.

That’s all gone now. The Booker that’s come back to them never misses an opportunity to show how much he loves them. How important they are to him. Nile remembers how they’d had to spend the first decade reminding him that he doesn’t need to keep trying to earn the forgiveness that’s been given to him. It didn’t change much, but after that it’s clear that he keeps doing things for them not because he feels he must, but because he wants to.

There’s a lightness to him, freed as he is from the guilt and pain that he carried around. And even when those memories come back to haunt him, he doesn’t try and hide it. Lets himself take solace from then instead.

As much as she’d like to think otherwise, at the end of the day, how he is with her is not  _ that _ different from how he is with all the others. Which leaves her stuck, not wanting to go backwards but not seeing a way forward either.

  
“... So, we might have to hunker down and stay inside for a few days more, depending,” Booker frowns, like he’s already anticipating cabin fever, “Joe promised to have supplies delivered. Said something about ‘an arrangement’. I really didn’t want to know more.”

That sure brings her back to the situation at hand. It really is the icing on this clusterfuck of a cake. One night would be bad enough, but  _ days _ ? Not being able to even step outside for a moment. Nile can’t help but groan.

Thankfully Booker either doesn’t hear her or chooses not to. Anyway, it’s not as if any one of them like it when ops turn out this way. Nile has a lot of non-Booker related reasons to be frustrated. Somehow those just don’t feel nearly as pressing.

“You look like you’re about to crash any minute,” Booker gives her a teasing poke on the shoulder before offering, “want me to do your braids?”

Nile considers it for a moment. “Something simple and quick for now, yeah? I think we both need sleep ASAP.”

He stands up at that and starts to clear up the table. Before Nile has a chance to help, Booker stops her, laying a hand on her shoulder. His fingers damn near caress her neck. “I’ve got this. You just relax,” as if she can do such a thing when he’s touching her like  _ that _ , “your pack is still in the bathroom?”

It’s a good thing that she only needs to nod at that. If she were to open her mouth right now, Nile doesn’t think she’d be able not to demand that he’d just stop hesitating already. She doesn’t want to push. But then again, it doesn’t look like anything is about to change unless she does.

If only she could get rid of her own doubts.

Soon enough Booker has thrown away the empty takeaway containers and is getting everything set up for braiding. Nile loves watching him like this; he puts as much focus and consideration in it as he does for mission prep. Like it’s imperative that he gets everything perfectly done.

Once he has everything neatly spread out on the table Booker starts applying the moisturizer. ”Anyone tell you yet how Joe and Nicky came to own this place anyway,” Booker asks as he works it in carefully, making sure not to snag or pull.

”Let me guess, illegal poker game?” Over the years they have all gathered various properties for mission related reasons. So far Nile has a cabin in the Alps and more than a few townhouses. And the city did use to have a reputation as the go to place for every kind of gambling once upon a time.

”Close. Dog fighting.” Nile lets out a sound of disgust at Booker’s reply. She doesn’t think she’ll ever stop hating any missions involving animals or kids. From the way Booker hums, she can tell Booker gets it. ”Yeah, it wasn’t pretty. We made sure the ringleaders got what was coming to them.”

As he gets into the actual braiding, Booker tells her of the time they’d taken down a crime family mostly by accident. It’s a nice story and he tells it well. Occasionally she’ll interrupt him to ask a question about something or other, or just to comment on anything particularly outrageous but mostly Nile just focuses on listening.

It’s a kind of ritual they’ve developed over the years. Whenever Booker is helping her with her hair in any way, he’ll tell a story. More than one, if it’s something time consuming. Mostly about everything that the team had gotten up to before she came along. If there are others around, they might chime in or argue as to what truly happened. More than once, Nile has gotten at least three contradicting versions of the same story.

Nile loves all of their stories. There are some that she cherishes more than others though; sometimes, when it’s just the two of them and Booker feels up to it, he’ll talk about his life from before. Of the Paris of his youth or his first family. He’s learnt to see past the bitterness of how it all ended and the memories he shares are just as likely to make them laugh as they are to make them cry. It always warms her all over, being trusted with something so precious.

  
  


Once the story is over and Booker is satisfied with his handiwork, he tugs playfully at one braid, a barely there pressure to let her know he’s done. “Come on, bed,” he starts and then trails off, like he’s not quite sure how to continue with that.

Because there it is. The king sized, 2m wide elephant in the room. The  _ one  _ bed that Nile had noticed when they came in and then resolutely did not think about until now. Booker, seemingly having considered the issue earlier, eyes the living room sofa appraising it. He opens his mouth, clearly about to offer to sleep on it. And that’s just silly. The bed is big enough that all six of them would fit if need be. Have in fact slept in tighter places. But rather than argue the point, Nile cuts him off before he has a change to actually say anything. “I’ll take the left side,” making it clear that she’s not about to talk about the issue any more.

Booker blinks. “Oh. Okay,” is the only answer he manages to get out, and then a moment later, “I’ll just... I’ll change in the bathroom.” It’s at this point that Nile realizes this might not have been such a good idea after all. She happens to know that he tends to sleep shirtless, wearing just pajama pants.

_ Well, in for a penny, in for a pound and all that _ , she thinks. Trying to be as quick as she can, Nile changes into her own pajamas before brushing her teeth in the kitchen sink and starts to tie up her bonnet. When there’s no sign of Booker by the time she’s done, it’s clear that the man is stalling. “Turn off the light when you come to bed, will you,” she calls out to him on her way to the bedroom. There’s a quiet affirmative mumble and Nile hears the sink start to run.

By the time Booker finally emerges again, Nile is well settled in bed and halfway to sleep already. The bed is more comfortable than anything she’s slept in in months and the day has been all sorts of draining, so it’s not that much of a struggle. She is still just aware enough to feel how the bed dips a little when Booker lies down. The last thing on Nile’s mind before she falls asleep is that she’s not sure if she’s relieved or disappointed that he’s wearing a T-shirt.

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Nile wakes up once during the night. For a moment she’s disoriented, not remembering where she is. All she knows is that there’s danger that she needs to take care of. But before she has time to reach around for her gun she registers a hand on her arm stroking her gently. Booker is talking calmly in French; words Nile doesn’t have the energy to focus on right now. She doesn’t really need to anyway; his voice and touch alone are enough to bring her back to herself.

A nightmare. Nothing more. Nile doesn’t even remember what it was about. She should really go back to sleep. Tell Booker to do the same. The problem is that now she’s  _ too _ aware of her surroundings. She’d gone to bed laying on her left side, facing away from Booker. But at some point, she has turned around and moved closer to him so now she’s staring straight at his chest. With the way he is still holding her they are practically embracing. She would barely have to move at all to press herself against him. Booker would wrap his hands around her if she did do that. No question about it. It’s not like it’d be the first time they’ve hugged or even cuddled. So, she could do it. But then what?

It dawns on Nile then, her folly in thinking this would be just the same as all the other times they’ve slept in the same bed. That there is one major difference between this and all the other times. Yes, they might have done this before, but never when it’s been just the two of them with no one else in the same apartment, much less in the same bed. Now there’s no one or nothing to distract her. The place is even soundproofed so well that there’s no noise from the outside. Only thing she can hear is Booker’s measured voice and her own breathing, which is quicker than it has a right to be. Nile can only pray that he’ll think it’s because of the nightmare.

The curtains haven’t been closed all the way and they let in just enough streetlight to make out figures. Booker is looking at her with such intensity in his eyes, Nile thinks she might burn from the heat. He’s gone quiet, doesn’t seem to really know what to do, now that they’re both fully awake. Nile can’t help but glance at his lips and can’t look away when she does. Booker’s lips are parted ever so slightly, and his breathing is heavy almost like he’s struggling to keep it steady. Nile wants to kiss him. There’s a painfully long moment when it seems like Booker is leaning towards her, like he’s about to do just that.

The phone ringing in the living room startles them both. Booker, who has slept on the side closer to the door hurries to answer. There’s only five people in the world that can call that number and none of them would do it without a good reason at this time of the night. Nile makes herself count to ten to process what was about to happen before grabbing her gun from the nightstand and following Booker, ready if they are about to be attacked.

“Hold on boss, I’ll put you on speaker,” Booker says when she gets closer, and then continues, “we’re both here now.”

“It’s looking more and more like our contact wasn’t being very truthful with the information they gave us,” Andy’s voice is cut off by gunshots for a while, and Nile can hear Nicky shouting something in the background. “Motherfucker! Things got hot at the safehouse, we’re pulling out and re-grouping at a new place Copley Junior is setting up.”

“You two stay put. For now, there’s no reason to think that that place has been compromised or they’d have hit both places at the same time. Even if it were, Joe swears that with the security set-up there, no one is going to get the drop on you. I assume you know how to access the secondary exit?”

“We’ll be fine Andy. Don’t worry about us,” Nile glances quickly at Booker to confirm that he does indeed know what she’s talking about and then continues, “you guys just focus on getting out of there.”

There’s a sound of a car door slamming and the gunfire gets quieter. Andy must pass on the phone at that point because in a moment Quynh is talking to them, “Andy says to get working on the data we grabbed. You won’t hear from us for a bit, we’ll be ditching anything trackable once we’re out of the city.”

“Meanwhile, Booker, maybe you could use this time to finally get around to the  _ issue _ we’ve been talking about, yes?” The call cuts out before Nile has a chance to ask what the hell is that supposed to mean and from the way Booker avoids looking into her eyes it doesn’t seem likely that he’s about to give her an answer.

Trying to make eye contact does make Nile realize just how close to each other they have gotten once again. They are standing by the kitchen isle, shoulders nearly brushing against each other. Nile doesn’t have the energy to feel much of anything about it. Her worry about the rest of their family is drowning out all other feelings she might be having right now. Well, maybe not her frustration at not being there to help them.

Booker seems to sense at least some of what she’s feeling, because he wraps an arm around Nile’s shoulders. In return Nile pulls him closer so she can hug him properly. They stand there embracing for a while. Nile presses her cheek to Booker’s chest and a moment later he lays his chin on top of her head. She can feel him take a few deep breaths.

Close like this, Nile can hear Booker’s strong and constant heartbeat. She pushes everything else out of her mind and focuses on just listening to it. It eases some of her worry, to have proof that at least he is safe here with her, instead of having to deal with whatever shit show they’d had at the safe house. From the sounds in the background it had been bad. Nile pushes those thoughts out. There’s nothing they can do.

Eventually they let go and take a step back. “They can handle themselves, no need to worry about them, yeah?” Has Booker always been able to read her this well, or is she just being that obvious? “You go back to bed. I’ll stay up and keep watch. I’m not really tired anyway.” From the look of him, Booker is full of shit, and they both know it. Just as much they both know that there’s no need for him to stay up. Joe and Nicky have taken great care in making sure no one can trespass on their privacy here, the place has at least three layers of security. Nile could argue the point, more than likely she’d even win. But he looks at her and Nile knows that this is something he needs to do. So, she just squeezes his hand before heading back towards the bedroom.

It takes a while for Nile to fall back to sleep. She can hear Booker moving around for a bit before settling down on the sofa.  _ Guess he did con his way into spending the night there after all.  _ Then again, while it is unnecessary Nile must admit that it feels nice to have him there. Looking out for her.

_ Now, are you going to admit that you recognized him from the calluses on his hand alone?  _ That is something Nile very much is not willing to deal with right now, so instead she tells her inner Andy to shut the fuck up and forces herself to sleep.

Next time she wakes up it’s to sunshine on her face. It must be noon already and Nile really should be getting up, but she just can’t resist rolling onto Booker’s side of bed and burrowing her face into the pillow. It mostly just smells like laundry detergent but when she inhales deeply enough, she can just catch Booker’s smell on it.

Having indulged herself enough, Nile gets up and dresses. She then leaves the bedroom, meaning to look for Booker –who she hasn’t heard make a sound while she’s been awake– and then something to eat.

It doesn’t take her long to find the former. It is indeed the first thing Nile sees when she steps into the living room and the sight of him is enough to make her nearly trip over her own feet. Because Booker is in front of the double windows doing yoga.  _ Shirtless _ . The pants he’s wearing are not much better, tight fitted to show off his ass. From the look of it, he’s been at it for a while. There’s a sheen of sweat on him and the way the sun hits him he damn near  _ shimmers _ .

Booker has his eyes closed and is wearing earphones so he’s clearly unaware of Nile’s presence. So maybe Nile takes a moment to look him over. And really, who can blame her? Booker is certainly nice to look at even at the worst of times but seeing him like this is a treasure. He’s on his knees, back arched, head bent down and back, arms stretched down by his ankles. All of it works wonders to bring out just how built the man really is.

But what really gets Nile is the look on his face. He looks peaceful, serene even, something he so rarely is. They’ve talked about it in the past, Booker telling her how yoga helps him let go of his anxieties, so he can process them later without being overwhelmed. It centers him, focusing only on his body and how it’s feeling.

Eventually it’s too much for Nile to take. She doesn’t really want to interrupt him when he’s like this. But for one, if she keeps looking, she’ll eventually get caught. And they do have work to get to. She doesn’t trust herself to get closer and knowing from experience that Booker won’t hear her no matter how loud she yells. Instead she grabs the t-shirt Booker had discarded on the floor and tosses it at him.

It barely even hits him, but he is startled enough to lose his balance. He falls backwards with a shout, landing on his back. For all that it looks painful, Nile can’t help but laugh at the look of pure bewilderment on his face. It earns her a dirty look when Booker catches on to what happened. “I’m starting to think Quynh is rubbing off on you,” he says, getting up from the floor. He’s obviously trying to sound grumpy but fails completely at hiding a smile.

“Yeah, well, serves you right for not waking me up earlier,” try as she might, she doesn’t manage to sound truly annoyed at him. Maybe if there was anything for them to do, besides setting up the programs for the data decryption and anxiously hoping that Junior can pass on any kind of message from the others.

Booker looks at her, part bashful, part sheepish, “I- uh... was going to, an hour or so ago. But you looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb you.” Nile feels her face go flush at the thought of Booker watching her sleep and prays it doesn’t show. It’s a good thing he seems to be intent at looking at anything but her. He’s scratching at the back of his neck, with a clear note of embarrassment in his voice, “not as if there was any need for you to wake up, so…”

“The supplies Joe promised came,” Nile lets the obvious change in subject go without a comment. “Should last us a while, if you can bear eating things made in that kitchen. There’s breakfast ready, I’ll just take a shower first, yeah?”

Nile waves for him to go ahead and goes towards the kitchen herself. Sure enough, there are various pastries both sweet and savory all set up on a tray, as well as slices of different fruits. There’s even a bowl of strawberries and a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice. Nile wonders idly if this is their standing order. Because if not, they are  _ not _ being subtle. It looks delicious all the same so Nile makes herself a plate. Booker is taking longer in the shower than last night and rather than following any further on that line of thought, Nile gets out her tablet to check up on things while she waits.

There’s a message from Junior on one of their secure channels letting them know that the team made it safely to the secondary location but will be moving again tonight just to be safe. They have also started to try and figure out what the hell went wrong last night. Nile writes back to thank them for the update.

Just as Nile has sent the message Booker steps into the room. The supplies they got must have included clothes because this time he’s wearing a light button-up sweater. The first couple of buttons are undone, exposing his neck and collarbone. It takes all of Nile’s self-control not to stare at how his still damp hair is dripping down on it.

As they eat, they discuss what they should do next. Not that there’s much that they  _ can _ do. Mostly their talk revolves around deciding which algorithms would work best. Neither one of them wants to talk about how the only thing for them to do after that will be to wait around. With the amount of data they have and the level of security on it, it’ll take days, if not weeks before anything is done. “Sometimes I miss the times when putting a password on your files was the height of electronic security,” Booker says wryly once they’ve gotten things running.

“You miss the computers weighing a ton, too?” She bumps him with her shoulder. They’ve moved to sit side by side on the sofa, computers open on the coffee table in front of them. Nile means for it to be just a quick touch, but instead finds herself pressing into his side.

Booker chuckles at that, “not even a little bit.” He wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling Nile even closer. Booker reclines against the back of the sofa and Nile follows his movements. She ends up snuggling into his side, with her head pillowed on his chest. For a while, he holds himself tense, arm hovering around her, until finally letting it fall on her back and relaxing.

After a couple of minutes Booker’s breathing deepens and he falls asleep. It’s nice being with him like this. Comforting. He clearly hasn’t slept, at least since the phone call and maybe even before that. It warms Nile’s heart to know that no matter how shitty their situation is, he lets himself be vulnerable like this with her. For now, she resolves to enjoy the moment, and not worry about how they ended up here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I wasn't able to stick to two chapters after all. Oh well. Yey for more content?
> 
> Copley Junior is the child of the original Copley, who has taken over as Guard's handler from their dad; the idea of the position getting passed on within the family was borrowed from [this](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25558183) perfection of a fic.
> 
> Once again [yougurthfordinner](https://yogurtfordinner.tumblr.com/) is the bestest beta. Thank you so much!

**Author's Note:**

> I have tried to be as respectful as I can when writing about Nile’s hair care and braiding. The lovely people in Book of Nile tumblr group chat gave really great comments on the subjects and I’ve based my writing on those, as well as watching youtube videos. That said I am a white person with hair as straight as sticks and with limited understanding about the cultural significance of Black hair.  
> If I’ve made mistakes in my writing, I would like to apologize for them. I promise to listen to anyone wants to tell me where I’ve gone wrong, and to do better in the future.
> 
> My greatest thanks to yogurtfordinner for betaing this. Without it this would’ve been much more of a mess.
> 
> I am available to be screamed at on [tumblr.](%E2%80%9Cwolfshavenokings.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)


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